Reviews

"A Classic Work"
March 30, 2001
Reviewer: Joel Skousen, editor,
World Affairs Brief. Orem, Utah, USA.

Jim Ewart has produced a classic work entitled Money.  More than simply a fine 'coffee table' exposition on our understanding of the nine most important monetary terms (money, currency, dollar, pay, note, bill, tender,usury, and inflation), it is THE premiere showcase work on the pictorial history of money.

This expensively designed and printed book is the first to show all of the original American forms of coinage and paper currency in full color plates.  They are gorgeous. Ewart walks you through all the fascinating fine print on each bill showing how government has slowly changed the fiduciary relationship between citizen and currency – to the citizen's detriment.  While I think Ewart sometimes makes too much out of the nuances of etymology (tracking the root meaning of words), when you get through his conversational explanations on money, banking and credit, you'll be an expert on the terminology of money and much better equipped to see through the deceptive fine print still in use in many of today's bank loan documents.

Again, this is a showcase-quality hardback book printed on glossy paper – a treasure house of color reproductions.  It's priced none too high for the value, in my opinion.

Joel Skousen: http://www.joelskousen.com/

---

"Thar's Gold in Them Thar Coffeetables!"
October 26, 1999
Reviewer: Charles W. Evans,
CEO, picoipo.com, inc. Melbourne, Florida, USA

Ewart spends the first chapters of Money dissecting the 'verbicide' of the words "money," "pay," "tender," "bill," "usury," and "inflation," among others, showing how their misuse by politicians, propagandists, and the press has led to large-scale fraud, waste, and abuse the world over, for more than two millennia.

Throughout the text, Mr. Ewart traces the etymologies of these and other terms, whose meanings are corrupted in popular discourse, and shows that positions that were self-evident and considered prudent by the great majority only a few decades ago now tag their holders as fringe radicals.

Pretty heady stuff for what appears to be just another glossy, large-format coffeetable book at first glance.  But, open those covers and begin to read, and you find yourself infected by Mr. Ewart's passion, indignation, and zeal.

One of the more noteworthy aspects of Money is the forty-eight pages of full-color reproductions of US paper currency and coins.  Before Mr. Ewart was allowed to publish these photographs legally, he had to receive permission from the US Treasury, and was required to destroy all negatives.

Reading the notices that have been printed on paper currency in the USA over the past two centuries, and especially since creation of the Federal Reserve System, one sees clearly what Mr. Ewart finds so disturbing

1880– This certifies that there have been deposited with the Treasurer of the U.S. at Washington, D.C., payable at his office to the bearer on demand one thousand silver dollars.

1918– Secured by United States Certificates of Indebtedness or one-year gold notes, deposited with the Treasurer of the United States of America, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, California, will pay to the bearer on demand one dollar.

1922– This certifies that there have been deposited in the Treasury of the United States of America fifty dollars in gold coin payable to the bearer on demand.

1928– This note is a legal tender at its face value for all debts public and private. The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand two dollars.

1934– This note is legal tender for all debts public and private, and is redeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury, or at any Federal Reserve Bank.

1963– This note is legal tender for all debts public and private.

Two shortcomings of Money are its focus on the USA, and the lack of an in-depth explanation in of how the Federal Reserve system creates new circulating currency.  The title of the book suggests a general theme, and the issues described plague nations the world over. Comparisons and contrasts with at least England, Germany, and Japan would have been very informative.

Also, in light of the overall tone, it would have lent even more credibility to Mr. Ewart's thesis, if he had provided, among his numerous appendices, schematic balance sheets showing how new US dollars are called into existence.  It is one thing for the reader to accept that the US dollar is no longer backed by value; it is another thing entirely to see illustrations showing how the US dollar is now backed by debt, which is 'minus-value'.

The message of Mr. Ewart's Money is not as radical as the tone of the text suggests.  He has written an excellent introduction to the institution of money, which exposes glaring frailties that are of the utmost importance today, especially in light of recent events in the US stock and worldwide gold markets, but his diagnosis would be judged tame by most readers' grandparents and great-grandparents.

Money is a readable, well-documented, and above all non-technical volume that should be read by anyone who is interested in the nature and history of this most basic of human institutions.

Charles Evans: http://www.picoipo.com/

---